


Prisoner

by Burgie



Category: Star Stable Online
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-30
Updated: 2018-01-30
Packaged: 2019-03-11 08:13:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13520205
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burgie/pseuds/Burgie
Summary: Concorde makes his grand escape. Kind of an alternate version of the saving Justin quests back when I had the slim hope that Concorde would be the one to rescue us.





	Prisoner

Concorde’s ears twitched as the girders around his cell groaned. Some humans were clearly moving around on the helipad, but they had no horses with him. He’d be able to hear the sound of hooves on the metal flooring. His tail swished, unbound after years of this, smacking away a small insect that had chosen to land on his flank. He’d begun to suspect that they were taking his blood like this, possibly trying to create more Soul Steeds. They certainly weren’t injecting him with dark serum, they’d stopped after his body had rejected it in a blinding solar flare that had roasted the goons around him alive. He could still smell their sizzling flesh and the stink of burning hair and clothing, melted rubber from their gloves and boots and plastic from their goggles. That had been so long ago now, and Concorde had no clue how many days had passed. It was difficult to keep track of time when he couldn’t see the sun or moon. Eternal darkness shrouded the oil rig, and recently, it had begun to rain and flicker with lightning.

When it had started up with the lightning, Concorde had woken up properly for the first time in years. Was this Alex, his rider’s mate, come to save him? But all of his noise, his neighing and rearing and stamping the floor and kicking the walls, had only resulted in one of his captors, the dark one with lambent green eyes, striking him a blow that had sent him to his knees, senseless. Alex had never come.

Since then, Concorde had endured his imprisonment silently, keeping an ear out for any information that he could use when he was rescued. Most of the time, he didn’t hear anything. But that wasn’t too surprising- the Generals were smart, so surely they’d know not to speak around a horse that could not only understand them but also talk back. The door to this lower room opened, and Concorde turned in his tiny cell to face the door, wanting to see who would walk past.

“What is going on?” asked Concorde as someone walked past his cell. Footsteps stopped, and a pale face framed by white hair appeared in the tiny grate up the top of the door where his captors could sneer in at him. Concorde snorted, pawing the ground at the sight of the woman who’d tried to take Alex from his princess.

“Where’s your rider?” Katja drawled, grinning in at him. Concorde pulled his lips back. “Has she been taken from you? Good.”

“You won’t be able to swoop in and take Alex, you witch,” said Concorde, a rumble in his throat.

“We’ll see,” said Katja with a smirk, and left. Concorde neighed loudly, beginning to kick his cell walls again until a hazy smoke filled the room. His eyelids grew heavy, and he sighed as he fell to his knees.

One day, Concorde heard the sound of horseshoes striking metal, and surged to his knees with a whinny, calling out to one of his possible friends. But all he got in return was laughter, and a man who looked like a Hot Topic had exploded on him sneering at him through the cell door as a Dark Horse was led past his cell.

“Hmm, so you have done something useful after all,” said the man, grinning. Concorde reared up and slammed his hooves against the door, causing the man to back away with a dark chuckle.

It was over a year before Concorde heard more noise on the helipad. And this time, it was accompanied by a tingle that raised his mane up into a style that he’d once sported before it had grown out. He trembled, backing up against the far wall and facing the door. Was it really them? Could it be, or was it just another misunderstanding? But how had they even found out that he was here? He neighed, wishing that he could hear voices in his prison. At least he could hear footsteps. And then, a sound that made his heart beat just a little faster- three sets of horseshoes on metal.

Rearing up, Concorde attacked the door with new ferocity, spurred on by the hope that he might see his friends again and the knowledge that he’d never see them again if he stayed in here. His hooves chipped and bled from slamming into the door so hard, but finally, with one last mighty kick of his hind legs, the door slammed out into the hallway, collided against the opposite wall, and fell to the ground with a clatter. But it was still clattering on the ground when Concorde turned and galloped down the hallway, headed away from the small door. In his current weakened state, he knew that emerging onto the platform into battle would be a terrible idea. He had no idea where the corridor led, but he headed down there anyway, the scent of the sea filling his nostrils.

At the end of the corridor, Concorde turned and headed down one that was damper. It led him out to a more open space, where the scent of the sea was stronger than ever. His hooves began to sting from the salt water getting into his wounds, and his eyes were half-shut from the spray. He could hear the yelling now, the voices, the crackle of Soul Strike and flames colliding with bodies. And suddenly, the scream of a name, accompanied by a male scream of terror.

“JUSTIN!” someone screamed, and, seeing the man fall in a barrel and a girl leap after him, Concorde poured on the speed and leaped from an opening in the side of the oil rig. He neighed, feeling the magic of the Sun surge in him, and he didn’t need to turn his head to know that his wings, glowing bright white and sparkling with magic, were holding him aloft.

But Concorde only revelled in this feeling for a moment, before he swooped down and caught the two falling bodies, not minding the way the girl clutched at his mane or the way the young man hung from his tail for a moment before managing to pull himself up. Not even the sting of the salt water on his hooves could overpower the feeling of relief at finally being free.

“Fly down to the barge, it’s just down there,” said the girl, pointing towards a spot, and Concorde followed her direction. He saw Alex and Lisa on the helipad, staring in shock at him on their respective horses while the bodies of downed goons lay around them.

Concorde only stood for a moment on the barge, long enough for the two riders to stand on their own shaky feet, before he, too, collapsed, neighing weakly. His hooves stung, his muscles burned from the overexertion of exercise without stretching or warming up, and exhaustion crashed over him as he laid his head out in front of him and closed his eyes. He felt tingling fingers on him, warm ones as well as electric ones, and exhaled a long breath. He didn’t know where they were going, but at least he was going away from here. Maybe he might even find his princess.


End file.
